Notes on life, art, photography and technology, by a Danish dropout bohemian.

When you drink the water, remember the river.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Beware of covert advertising

Penny auctions explained: Is it really possible to save up to 95% on RRP?, article, no, advertisement.

It took me a while to realize that I was not reading an actual article, but a disguised advertisement.
And probably an ad for a false service. Not even a desperate junkie is dumb enough to sell brand new consumer goods for more than 90% off. Well, OK, a really desperate junkie might, but not somebody who is running a business.

3 comments:

Ken
said...

In these auctions it is possible to save a lot, but most of the participants will spend money and receive absolutely nothing. This comes about because to make a bid it costs money. The only way the promoter can lose money is if only a small number of low bids are received. If many of the bidders are prepared to force the price up, then the promoter will make a lot of money.

Yes, very much like gambling, except it is impossible to calculate the odds. I expect most peoples strategy is to bid up to 10-20% of the retail price as that gives them little loss. What they don't realise is they have zero chance of winning.